Marchex, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCHX) (NASDAQ:MCHXP) and Fox's Latin American Channels division, a wholly owned subsidiary of News Corporation, today announced a partnership to jointly develop a set of Spanish-language Web sites owned by Marchex, including cocina.com (English translation is "Kitchen" or "Cook"), fotos.com (Photos), futbol.com (Soccer), deportes.com (Sports), mascotas.com (Pets), mujer.com (Woman), peliculas.com (Movies), salud.com (Health), and tarjetas.com (Greeting Cards). Through the partnership, Fox will provide localized content and community features to the Web sites including: videos, forums, blogs, personal home pages, and photo albums.
SEATTLE & BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (BusinessWire EON) May 21, 2007 --
Marchex, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCHX) (NASDAQ:MCHXP) and Fox’s
Latin American Channels division, a wholly owned subsidiary of News
Corporation, today announced a partnership to jointly develop a set of
Spanish-language Web sites owned by Marchex, including cocina.com
(English translation is “Kitchen”
or “Cook”),
fotos.com (Photos), futbol.com (Soccer), deportes.com (Sports),
mascotas.com (Pets), mujer.com (Woman), peliculas.com (Movies),
salud.com (Health), and tarjetas.com (Greeting Cards). Through the
partnership, Fox will provide localized content and community features
to the Web sites including: videos, forums, blogs, personal home pages,
and photo albums.
Marchex recently acquired more than 100 Spanish-language Web sites from
two separate parties. The acquired Web sites collectively generated more
than 1 million unique monthly visitors for the month of April 2007.
Unique visitor statistics are based on internal traffic logs, which
calculate unique IP (Internet protocol) addresses on an unduplicated
basis during a given month. Under the terms of the transaction
agreements, which are effective immediately, Marchex paid a total of $10
million in cash for all of the Web sites. Additional examples of the Web
sites, which will initially be monetized with graphical and
pay-per-click text advertisements, are listed below.
“Partnering with Fox, one of the global
leaders in creating digital content and online communities, helps us
extend our international reach to one of the fastest growing
demographics of Internet users,” said Peter
Christothoulou, Marchex Chief Strategy Officer. “It
is a key step in our ongoing strategy of acquiring Web sites and
developing them into high quality destinations which, over time, will
continue to build our base of global and local traffic.”
“Marchex has had the vision to acquire and
develop local Web sites at scale to create an increasingly valuable and
growing online network,” said Hernan Lopez,
President, Fox Latin American Channels. “We
are very pleased to work with Marchex in extending their international
strategy, and believe that the unique combination of Marchex’s
premium Spanish-language Web sites and Fox’s
community-focused assets will create powerful consumer destinations.”
By partnering with Fox, which operates over 50 Spanish-language Web
sites, Marchex is further extending its business internationally and
targeting one of the fastest growing global Internet demographics:
Spanish-speaking Internet users from Spain, South America, Central
America, Mexico, and the United States. According to Internet World
Stats, there are more than 100 million Spanish-speaking Internet users
worldwide, an increase of more than 260% since 2000, outpacing the rest
of the world’s usage growth by more than 25%
over the same period.
Today’s developments complement Marchex’s
broader Web site development strategy, which involves acquiring
commercially relevant Web sites that have generic and descriptive
characteristics, then developing the Web sites into robust online
consumer destinations that provide an excellent user experience and
highly targeted advertising opportunities. In June, Marchex plans to
re-launch more than 100,000 of its local Web sites, utilizing its Open
List content aggregation and publishing engine to populate selected
Marchex Network Web sites with relevant content, including product or
service descriptions, ratings, expert third-party reviews,
user-generated reviews, articles, awards, maps and more.
Examples of Marchex’s Spanish-Language Web
Sites:
Below is a sample list of Marchex’s Spanish
language Web sites, including the newly acquired Web sites as well as
Web sites Marchex already owned.
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Newly Acquired
Web Sites Examples
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Existing
Web Sites Examples
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Spanish Web Site
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English Translation
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Spanish Web Site
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English Translation
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Animacion.com
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Animation
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Abastecedores.com
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Suppliers
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Bromas.com
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Jokes
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Actriz.com
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Actress
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Cartas.com
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Cards or Letters
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Almohadas.com
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Pillows
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Cocina.com
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Kitchen or Cook
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Analogia.com
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Analogy
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Computadoras.com
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Computers
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Aprendiz.com
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Apprentice
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Dinosaurio.com
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Dinosaur
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Astrologica.com
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Astrological
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Deportes.com
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Sports
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Aventuras.com
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Adventures or Flings
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Dietas.com
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Diets
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Burrito.com
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Burrito
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Estudios.com
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Studies
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Charlar.com
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To Chat
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Financiero.com
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Financial
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Elturismo.com
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Tourism
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Fotos.com
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Photos
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Escuchar.com
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Listen
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Futbol.com
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Soccer
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Espejos.com
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Mirrors
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Mascotas.com
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Pets
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Familias.com
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Families
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Mensajes.com
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Messages
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Importadores.com
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Importers
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Mujer.com
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Woman
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Impresor.com
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Printer
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Nutricion.com
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Nutrition
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Instructores.com
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Instructors
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Peliculas.com
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Movies
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Laceramica.com
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Ceramics
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Publicidad.com
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Advertising or Publicity
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Leyendo.com
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Reading
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Salud.com
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Health
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Musico.com
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Musician
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Tarjetas.com
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Greeting Cards
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Nombres.com
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Names
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Universidad.com
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College or University
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Salsa.com
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Sauce or Salsa
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Ventas.com
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Sales
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Subasta.com
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Auction
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Viajando.com
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Traveling
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Sucesos.com
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Events
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Marchex Updated Financial Guidance:
As a result of these acquisitions, Marchex is updating its 2007
financial guidance for fiscal year 2007 (Year ending December 31, 2007)
as follows:
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Revenue: Marchex does not anticipate meaningful revenue
contribution from the acquired Web sites for the remainder of 2007.
Currently, Marchex fees are generated under the partnership on a net
revenue share basis once content feed, administrative support and
other costs have been recovered. As such, Marchex is reiterating its
anticipated 2007 revenue range of $144 million to $150 million.
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Adjusted operating income before amortization. Marchex
anticipates the Web Sites will be amortized over periods ranging from
four to seven years. Therefore, based on approximately $1 million in
incremental Web Site amortization during 2007, a non-cash charge, and
product investment initiatives to further develop its Spanish-language
Web sites to increase their traffic and monetization levels, Marchex
is updating guidance to reflect that it anticipates 2007 adjusted
operating income before amortization in the range of $34 million to
$38 million. However, Marchex does not anticipate any significant
impact on its adjusted EBITDA for 2007 based on the transactions. For
adjusted EBITDA, Marchex expects to add back approximately $7 million
in additional depreciation and amortization to its range of $34
million to $38 million of adjusted operating income before
amortization, compared with $6 million prior to the transactions.
About Fox Latin America Channels
Fox Latin American Channels operates channels, production, mobile and
online businesses in Latin America under the following brands: Fox, FX,
Fox Life, Fox Sports, Fox News, National Geographic Channel, Universal
Channel, SCI FI, Utilísima, SPEED Channel,
Baby TV Channel, MyFox, .Fox, and Fox Toma 1. Additionally its
sales force -Fox One-Stop Media- represents owned and third-party
channels in several markets. Fox Latin America Channels is wholly owned
by The News Corporation Limited (NYSE:NWS) (NYSE:NWS.A).
About Marchex, Inc.
Marchex (www.marchex.com) is a
technology driven search and media company focused on vertical and local
online traffic. Specifically, the company is focused on search
marketing, local search, and direct navigation. Marchex's platform of
integrated performance-based advertising and search marketing services
enables merchants to efficiently market and sell their products and
services across multiple online distribution channels, including search
engines, product shopping engines, directories and selected Web sites.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve
substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than
statements of historical facts, included in this press release regarding
our strategy, future operations, future financial position, future
revenues, certain statements and expectations regarding these
acquisitions, projected costs, prospects, plans and objectives of
management are forward-looking statements. We may not actually achieve
the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in our forward- looking
statements and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-
looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially
from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in the
forward-looking statements we make. There are a number of important
factors that could cause Marchex's actual results to differ materially
from those indicated by such forward-looking statements which are
described in the "Risk Factors" section of our most recent periodic
report and registration statement filed with the SEC. We disclaim any
intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
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